The present invention relates to a tarpaulin fasting on canopies for commercial vehicles, in particular canopies which can be pushed together for vehicle superstructures and containers, comprising a canopy frame including upper longitudinal flanges which span the length of the loading compartment and are supported against the vehicle chassis via upwardly protruding supports and stakes, wherein bows which support a roof covering, in particular a tarpaulin, and can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle are supported on the upper longitudinal flanges of the canopy frame in such a manner that their ends or the end caps placed onto the latter grip laterally over the longitudinal flanges, side-wall tarpaulins, in particular, being fastened by means of non-releasable fastening means, which pass through eyelets or at last recesses in the tarpaulin, to support elements which are arranged at distances from one another, such as the fastening plate of hanging sliders or bow end caps and the like.
In the case of fastenings and suspension means, which are known in practice, for side tarpaulins on canopies for vehicle superstructures, in particular also canopies which can be pushed together of vehicle superstructures, the tarpaulins are fastened to a support, such as the fastening plate of hanging sliders or bow end caps and the like, by means of fastening means passing through them, for example rivets. In many cases provision has also already been made, for the purpose of reinforcing the fastening, to use pressure-distributing plates through which rivets or similar fastening means reach and which transmit the holding force of the fastening means over a large area of the tarpaulin. Although fastenings of this type are sufficiently secure for the usual operation of a commercial vehicle, they are not able to withstand relatively high stresses with the required certainty.
In the case of other means of fastening which are known in practice, provision has been made to provide the tarpaulin in its edge region with eyelets and for the fastening means to pass through the said eyelets, which definitely results in a reduction in the risk of the tarpaulin material tearing in the region through which the fastening means pass. None of the known and customary means of fastening side-wall tarpaulins are able with the required certainty to withstand relatively high demands made on the strength of the fastening, as may result, for example from the wind forces which occur in the case of train traffic in the opposite direction when a commercial vehicle is loaded on a train.
It is an object of the invention to provide a tarpaulin fastening, which tarpaulin fastening can be produced and fitted at an acceptable cost and satisfies high safety requirements.
In the case of the tarpaulin fastening mentioned at the beginning, this object may be achieved according to the invention in that the tarpaulin is fastened to the support elements by means of the eyelets inserted in it or at least U-shaped metal clips which grip around the edge reinforcement and by means of non-releasable fastening means which pass through the said metal clips.
The invention therefore proposes in general to deviate from the previous, direct means of fastening and to use a fastening via a metallic supporting means. This advantageously provides a tarpaulin fastening which satisfies the safety regulations at least of all European railways.
The invention relates in particular to a fastening of the tarpaulin which is distinguished in the most favourable embodiment by the fact that the tarpaulin is grasped in its edge region by a sheet-metal clamp and is fastened by means of the sheet-metal clamp and a fastening means passing through the latter to the bow or the roller carriage or the fastening plate of a hanging slider.
The invention is not restricted here to the admittedly preferred use of a sheet-metal clamp, but in general comprises every form of design of a clamp made from metallic material, provided that the strength of the metallic material is sufficient to satisfy the conditions stipulated for particular transport systems, for example of the so-called piggyback transport of European railways.
In a preferred embodiment of the side-wall-tarpaulin fastening to a vehicle body provision is made for the metal clip to be formed by a strip-shaped sheet-metal material blank which is bent in the shape of a U and in the region of the two ends is provided with a respective passage recess for a fastening means. In order to further increase the strength of the fastening of the side-wall tarpaulin, provision may furthermore be made to provide the tarpaulin in its edge region, or else in the region of the connection to the metal clips, with an edge reinforcement, for example an insert made of tension-proof material, and for the metal clip to have, in the profile base of its U-shape, a bulge serving to receive an edge reinforcement of the tarpaulin.
One design of the tarpaulin fastening which is particularly well suited at least for fastening the side-wall tarpaulin to one of the bows in a longitudinally displaceable manner on the upper longitudinal flange makes provision for the passage recess for the fastening means, which recess is provided in the region of one end of the sheet-metal material strip, to be provided with a collar and for the passage recess which is provided in the region of the other end of the sheet-metal material strip to encircle the collar.
In detail, in the case of a tarpaulin fastening of this type, provision can then expediently furthermore be made for both passage openings to have an excess size as compared with the fastening means and for the fastening means to engage on the metal clip by means of a pressure-distributing element, such as a washer.
The pressure-distributing element which transmits the holding force of one fastening element, which has a relatively small diameter, in a compatible manner to the metal clip is preferably of cup-shaped design and is provided in the centre with a passage opening for a rivet as the non-releasable fastening means.
The principle of the proposed tarpaulin fastening is based on the use of a metal clamp for transmitting the holding forces of the fastening element to the tarpaulin and therefore naturally also includes different shapes of metallic material than the shape of a flat material, in particular to the effect that instead of a sheet-metal strip a length section of a different shape of metallic material, for example round- or multi-edged material or else bundles of non-planar shapes of metallic material are used for forming a U-shaped clip.
Further advantages and features of the invention emerge from the following description and from the subclaims.